Double electrodes? Any difference? - Fuelly Forums

Click here to see important news regarding the aCar App

Go Back   Fuelly Forums > Fuel Talk > General Fuel Topics
Today's Posts Search Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-12-2008, 06:42 AM   #1
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 19
Country: United States
Double electrodes? Any difference?

Getting ready to tuneup my 93 civic dx hb and am curious: Do more grounding electrodes make a difference? Are 2 better than 1 and are 4 better than 2? I do feel there would be an advantage for having the platinum. With these 100,000mi plugs, has anyone heard if they are still effective at 50 or 75000mi? Thanks! Rick
__________________

Civicrick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 07:08 AM   #2
Site Team / Moderator
 
Jay2TheRescue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 4,742
Country: United States
Location: Northern Virginia
If you go for OEM Platinums then yes, because the manufacturers now sell cars that don't require a tune up for 100,000 miles. A friend of mine just replaced his spark plugs in his 97 T Bird and after ~125,000 miles the stock plugs and ignition wires were still in there. He replaced them and now says the car has a lot more power, but it didn't run "bad" to begin with, and it still passed state emissions with the old plugs and wires. As far as multiple electrodes goes, electricity always follows the shortest path to ground. This means after a period of time it will probably only fire off of one electrode anyway.

-Jay
__________________

__________________








Jay2TheRescue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 07:42 AM   #3
Member
 
Ratman667's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 76
Country: United States
Location: Jacksonville, Fl
In my opinion the platnum+(insert number here) plugs aren't worth the price. In a car with a distributor such as yours, they probably wouldn't hurt. However, they probably won't help any either. I know in a car with a DIS ignition system with a waste spark, they have been know to cause misfires (happened to me and a few people i know).


Also, up until recently I worked at a parts store. With the platnum+ plugs being such a high profit item we were given spiffs of 50 cents per plug. So, depending on the sales person, they may try to force them on you.
Ratman667 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 12:32 PM   #4
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 19
Country: United States
I kinda guessed as much. I am gonna go with the platinums to avoid the gap increase that affects regular plugs but just with one electrode.
Civicrick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 02:40 PM   #5
Site Team
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 659
Country: United States
As far as I know, a single spark is all it takes to initiate combustion. I don't know what another electrode would accomplish, besides looking cool in advertisements.

-Bob C.
__________________
Think you are saving gas? Prove it by starting a Gas Log, then conduct a proper experiment.
bobc455 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 02:52 PM   #6
Site Team / Moderator
 
Jay2TheRescue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 4,742
Country: United States
Location: Northern Virginia
Exactly. Its a gimmick, nothing more. The only way the spark will split 2, 3, or 4 different ways is if the resistance is exactly the same to all electrodes. If the resistance is slightly higher on one or more electrodes those will not spark. Years ago I tried Splitfire plugs (2 electrodes) on my Buick. Absolutely no performance or MPG gain, but @ $5/ea they did make a noticeable dent in my wallet.

-Jay
__________________








Jay2TheRescue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 03:19 PM   #7
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,111
Country: United States
Send a message via AIM to dkjones96
The point behind those Bosch platinum multi-electrode plugs isn't the multiple electrodes making multiple sparks.

It's the surface-gap discharge that the design gives you and the fact that it is so open to the combustion chamber.
__________________
- Kyle
dkjones96 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 03:24 PM   #8
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 689
Country: United States
I recommend using platinum because of the 100,000+ mile change interval. I have ran several sets of platinum plugs in excess of the 100,000 mile recommended change interval with no negative effects in FE or power. The cost of platinum's are only about $2-$3 a plug and last 100,000+ miles. Copper core plugs are $1-$2 each and have a recommended change interval of about 15,000 miles which makes the platinum more economical to use. I could be wrong about the change interval on copper core, I just know that is what was recommended years ago when I used them.
__________________
Hipermiler
#47 on my way to #1
Ford Man is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 04:01 PM   #9
Site Team / Moderator
 
Jay2TheRescue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 4,742
Country: United States
Location: Northern Virginia
Yeah, it seemed I was putting new copper plugs in my vehicles every 12 - 18 months. When I switched to platinum I was able to extend it to several years. Now that I've switched to OEM platinums I haven't worn any of those out yet.
__________________








Jay2TheRescue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2008, 11:11 PM   #10
Registered Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 140
Country: United States
while two electrodes won't help in the spark department, they do increase the compression a little , which gives more power.
__________________

mikehallbackhoe is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Please Add Time of Day to Fuel Up Screen xoraclez Fuelly Web Support and Community News 1 03-29-2013 08:03 AM
New to GasSavers.org civic_matic_00 Introduce Yourself - New member Welcome 6 05-25-2008 03:30 PM
83 Chevette Diesel - $950 Orange County CA razmataz For Sale 0 02-29-2008 09:59 AM
Larger/Heavier Flywheel rh77 General Fuel Topics 14 09-11-2006 12:54 AM
Name the VX krousdb General Fuel Topics 19 07-02-2006 02:12 AM

» Fuelly iOS Apps
» Fuelly Android Apps
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.